November 2014

Donna Harris, Co-CEO of 1776, says that health care, education and energy are broken, and she would like to see entrepreneurs create enterprises that solve meaningful problems. Her 1776 incubation platform works with startups around the globe to tackle these challenges.

Alexander Kapur, CEO of OpportunitySpace, which researches and catalogs vast unknown landholdings within a municipality, says that cities struggle with development in large part because they don't know what they have -- which is where OpportunitySpace comes into play.

Marci Harris, CEO of PopVox, learned throughout her years in government that a vast disconnect exists between the voice of the people and the hearing apparatus of lawmakers -- and PopVox exists to bridge that gap. Through the service, individuals and organizations can check on current bills and create profiles explaining their positions -- and messages are sent to the appropriate congressional offices.

Innovation

Using gaming to increase engagement was propelled by the Engagement Lab, a research unit housed at Boston’s Emerson College that focuses on the development and study of games, technology and new media to improve civic interaction.